Waitress fired for posting customer comment online

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The note at the top of a restaurant receipt reads simply, “I give God 10%, why do you get 18?”

The scribbled comment left at a St. Louis Applebee’s set off viral mayhem. The waitress who posted it online was fired, and the customer who wrote it vilified.

The customer who described herself on the receipt as a pastor shared appetizers with eight or nine friends on Jan. 25. The group was large enough that an automatic 18 percent tip was added to the bill.

The customer paid the tip, but the snarky note prompted another waitress to post a photo of the receipt on the website Reddit. She was fired.

Applebee’s President Mike Archer said today that customers deserve privacy and the note violated the company’s social media policy.